Posted on 02/22/2005 10:09:10 AM PST by Dubya
FORT WORTH -- The bodies of a missing seven-months pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son were found Tuesday morning off Farm Road 407 in Justin, just hours after police arrested a Fort Worth man charged with capital murder in their disappearance.
It was not immediately disclosed how Lisa Underwood, 34, and her son, Jayden, were killed.
Stephen Barbee, 37, who previously had been romatically involved with Underwood, was taken into custody in Tyler and held initially with bail set at $2 million. He was later released to Fort Worth police and transported back to Tarrant County.
Police on Monday found Underwood's Dodge Durango abandoned in a creek bed off Farm Road 2449, just east of Interstate 35W in Denton County, about 10 miles north of where the bodies were found.
Lt. Gene Jones confirmed an arrest had been made in the case but declined to comment further.
Sources said major case detectives traveled to Tyler on Monday night by helicopter after requesting that Tyler police locate Barbee and take him to their headquarters to be interviewed by Fort Worth police.
It was unknown how police knew Barbee was in Tyler.
About the same time that Tyler police were taking Barbee into custody, Fort Worth police raided a residence in the 4100 block of Walnut Creek in north Fort Worth, a home where Barbee lived with a woman named Trish.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified said she was awakened by flashing police lights and noise about 3 a.m. Tuesday. She said officers went to the back of the residence and later came out the front carrying four or five bags of evidence.
The house, she said, had been under police surveillance since Sunday with officers in unmarked police vehicles cruising through the neighborhood.
About 8 p.m. Sunday, she said, officers came to her home asking "when was the last time I saw them and what kind of cars did they drive." She said she told them she last saw Barbee earlier Sunday.
At 11 a.m. Monday, she said, she saw officers rummaging through trash bags that had been set curbside outside the residence.
The discovery comes more than three days after relatives last heard from the 34-year-old mother, seven months pregnant with her second child.
Police issued an Amber Alert for the mother and son Saturday after relatives discovered a pool of blood inside Underwood's north Fort Worth home and noticed her sport utility vehicle missing.
On Monday, the search for the pair shifted to Denton after authorities found Underwood's blue 2002 Dodge Durango abandoned in a creek bed off Farm Road 2449, just east of Interstate 35W.
The search ended about 6:30 p.m. Monday before resuming this morning.
Party planned
Saturday was supposed to be a day of celebration.
Underwood is expecting a little girl, and her friends and family had planned to throw her a baby shower at Boopa's Bagel Deli, which she co-owns with her best friend, Holly Pils.
Marla Hess, who had traveled from Wichita Falls for the shower, looked forward to prying out of Underwood the name she had chosen for her unborn child.
Because "Jayden" is such an unusual name, family and friends assumed that Underwood had also picked an unconventional name for her daughter.
"She had a name that she wasn't going to tell us," Hess said. "We were going to try to make her."
But Underwood never made it to the party.
A farmer discovered the SUV about 8:28 a.m. Monday and called Denton police.
Throughout the day Monday, searchers scoured nearby pastures and wooded areas, some in helicopters, others on horseback and on foot with trained scent dogs.
Kamper said searchers found the keys to Underwood's SUV but declined to comment on whether they found blood in the vehicle or other evidence inside it.
The area where the SUV was found is largely isolated farmland, although signs along Farm Road 2449 point the way to a new housing subdivision just to the north. Monday afternoon, dozens of patrol vehicles, unmarked cars and media trucks lined the rural road.
Meanwhile, about 30 miles away, more police vehicles and yellow crime scene tape encircled the Underwoods' modest red brick home in the 3700 block of Chaddybrook Lane.
Neighbors talked quietly outside their homes as children rode bikes and drew on the sidewalks with colored chalk.
"They are awesome," said neighbor Vicki Wilson. "They are the nicest people anyone would want to meet. They are very, very sweet."
Wilson said Jayden and the other neighborhood children often played soccer together or came to her house to play on the swing set or swim in her pool.
Jayden was "kind of shy, but ... a smart, intelligent, happy little boy," Wilson said.
Jayden was a first-grader at North Riverside Elementary School. Today, extra counselors will be on hand to talk to the students, said Jason Meyer, a spokesman of the Keller school district.
Customers knew 'Boopa'
Outside Boopa's Bagel Deli, well-wishers left messages and trinkets of hope.
A large brown teddy bear, several notes and balloons graced the window.
Scrawled in colored markers were the words "God Bless Lisa and her two little angels." Another one read: "We're praying for you! Lisa, Jayden and Baby Underwood."
A lined piece of notebook paper bore a child's handwriting: "I'm sure she's OK. I miss her as much as you do. I hope you're going to be OK."
It was signed with a heart and a face with a frown.
Pils said Lisa Underwood had named her bagel shop "Boopa" after a nickname that her mother, Sheila, had bestowed upon her grandson.
Jayden expressed pride in having his nickname adorn his mother's business.
"He wanted to be referred to as one of the owners because he said, 'My name is on the building,'" Pils said.
Deli customers knew Jayden and often asked for him by name.
"They would say, 'Is Boopa here today?'" Pils said.
Pils said that Jayden often passed the time helping her and his mother in the shop, in Fossil Creek Plaza at Western Center Boulevard and Beach Street.
"He would sweep better than our employees," she said. "He loved being at the bagel shop, he was just a real special guy. I love being around him. He is a joy, just a complete joy."
Pils said Underwood has worked hard to provide for her son, who is active in Cub Scouts and soccer and can easily beat Pils at chess.
"He was a wonderful child because she was a wonderful mother."
Pils said Underwood has been looking forward to becoming a mother a second time.
"She felt like, 'I have a perfect boy. Now, I want a perfect girl,'" she said.
Staff Writers Kelly Melhart and Alex Branch Contributed to This Report Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655 dboyd@star-telegram.com
Seemed like a big coincidence, just wondering if the other dog had another screen name.
That's all.
Sad story here, innocent lives taken for no good reason.
Isn't it obvious....if he wasn't at home at the time he would not have been taken and killed..
The Ft. Worth TX police are on the ball. Thank goodness this didn't turn into a Scott/Laci Peterson long-drawn out "mystery."
Please, if these people are "Christians" I'll eat my hat.
It's just the complete inappropriateness of it that galls me; on the Terri threads this morning, people was lambasting somebody for posting the word "G_d" instead of "God," saying she "must be ashamed of God."
Who on earth ARE these people?
Very thoughtful and well said.
LOL!
"Or maybe you're an atheist."
Sorry, but that doesn't follow at all. I'm an atheist, and I'm just as angry as anyone else at the callous ill-will aimed at this poor woman and her children. Atheism does not equal being an un-caring fool.
Forgive my spelling error. Thank you. Yes, I know it's altar, just a typo on my part. Once again, not blaming the women, just pointing out the obvious.
Well. You win. It is not necessary to make wise choices. It is not necessary to read what people write for correct meaning. Just believe what you want to believe people say.
I will agree that the discussion may not belong on this thread. As I have said it is a very sad thing that has been done. Did you see that? But the discussion is important.
Why don't YOU use some of that "better judgment" you're so fond of and just be quiet in the face of this tragedy...2 dead children and their mom by a murderer?
I'm really disappointed by some of these responses. I understand that yellow-whomever had really bad timing in what he said, but, wow, the kind of ad-hominem attacks against him is waaaaay out of bounds. I don't want to read everyone's speculations about the character of another poster, based on very little information, any more than some of you want to read his speculations on the character of the victims. Again, wow!
//////Many single moms date "man after man" because men use them and have no intention of being "daddy."//////
Isn't this the truth?
Another result of divorce - even one justified. Women are thrown into a den of wolves. We live in a culture of free sex, no responsibility, and "what I want is what I get" mindset. It does have repercussions.
Man becomes free in such a world and WOMAN becomes the sole caregiver, provider, and has full responsibility to make sure all turns out well. A really hard task.
Not to be racist at all but in the black culture, we see a lot of this. Men are tomcats and the women are the ones raising the children, providing for them and the sole nurturer that raises the next generation. The result? We see worthless men and absolutely strong women of great character.
Life's experiences determine what the ones living that life become. Your life paints a picture - make it a picture worth having.
"The facts aren't in and we shouldn't assume she was another Amber Frey."
What does this mean?
I agree. In the end he is the one who killed them...but it still does not take away from the fact that.....well, you know.
"This case is very sad. Too bad the mother did not provide a stable, loving home for that boy. But as you see, she did not use good judgement in picking whom she made kids with.
"I wonder if this would have happened if she had used better judgement in picking a husband."
Where did you find all of these facts in order to formulate your conclusions? I would really like to read the whole story, so could you please furnish your sources?
Thanks, MS
I just read your rant, so how can you accuse anyone of squelching your right to free speech. Your right to speak freely doesn't force everyone else to surrender their right to disagree with you.
.......But it does get more difficult to be a Christian.
........
And, the alternative? This life is all there is?
I see it all the time. Maybe some people don't understand the responsibility that comes with having children.
I doubt your mother followed followed Oprah's advice and bedded every man that would have her.
HOW do you do that? What qualifications do we look for? Money? Religion? Quiet? Loves animals? Because I will give you a bad example for each one you choose. You can never know the mind of a sick psycho...one who kills life and feels nothing.
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